Sign up for our daily newsletter

Media

YouTube's double standard

Russ Jones
(OneNewsNow.com)
Friday, October 12, 2012

YouTube has reportedly caved to pressure from the White House to
block the controversial Innocence of Muslims video in
several nations -- a film the Obama administration falsely claimed
incited the recent violence in Benghazi. One group is calling the
move "hypocrisy."

With a new report, the Media Research Center's (MRC) Culture and Media
Institute maintains there is a double standard when it comes to
what is acceptable on the Internet. Meanwhile, Rep. Darrell Issa
(R-California) and the House Oversight Committee are investigating
security lapses at the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi and the death of
Ambassador Chris Stevens.

Dan Gainor, vice president
of business and culture for MRC, finds it odd that the Obama
administration does not assert the same power to remove the
Taliban's propaganda videos that encourage Islamist violence.

"They're working on two sets of standards here: The American
free speech standard, which is almost an 'anything goes' standard
-- not entirely, but almost," Gainor states.

"So [for] the terrorists, we don't censor anything that they
want to do. They've got their own channel … they're okay. But
American free speech is being limited by these same people who are
allegedly pro-free speech ..."

According to the MRC spokesman, the "administration's YouTube
hypocrisy" is more proof of efforts to silence conservative
ideology.

"We are embracing what's called the heckler's veto, except with
deadly consequences now," he warns. "It happens to conservatives
all the time … someone like Ann Coulter [or David Horowitz] goes to
an event, and a few loony lefties show up, and they create a
disruption, or they shout down the speaker. And then the speaker
says Oh, sorry we have to cancel this because there's too much
of a problem here. What they do [is] they silence the speech
they don't support."

YouTube confirms it has blocked access to the movie trailer in
Egypt and Libya.

We moderate all reader comments, usually within 24 hours of posting (longer on weekends). Please limit your comment to 300 words or less and ensure it addresses
the article. Comments that contain a link (URL), an inordinate number of words in ALL CAPS, rude remarks directed at other readers, or profanity/vulgarity will
not be approved. (More on this policy)